from sky to seed

Another kind of sailing

Years ago, Jon went to Maui for glider training, where updrafts on the cliffs make for perfect thermals. When he was done, he bought a Stemme, which is a motorized glider (also called a sailplane), and shipped it back to Guam. But that South Pacific sun cooked him under the glass cockpit and, in a whimsy of irritation, he shipped it back to Missouri and promptly forgot about it and never flew it again and let it fall behind on maintenance and it sat in a corner of the hangar and collected cobwebs.

Until now.

In April, he got it up to speed, did a couple hours of re-training, and has been gliding silently overhead every since.

I remember hearing about gliders when I was doing my flight training back in Oregon while in college, and the idea of them seemed so frightening and weird that I automatically dismissed them. They operate on thermals — the same invisible updrafts that birds use when they circle overhead — and have incredible glide ratios that let them fly for miles, sometimes hundreds of miles, without compromising on much altitude.

This Stemme has a glide ratio of 50:1, meaning that it will move forward 50 feet for every one foot that it drops in altitude. I don’t have the brain to do the math off the top of my head, but go ahead and compare that to a mile and you’ll be impressed. Some people have flown gliders across the country, across towering mountains, and I think (but am too lazy to Google) have even done a few ocean crossings.

Our corner of country is nowhere near as challenging, but with the ground cloaked in Spring green, it makes for pretty flying no matter how you spin it.

Jon keeps his own fuel tank around on his forklift! See how the wing end looks chopped off?

See how the wings fold back for storage? Crazy.

The wingspan on the Stemme, Jon says, is as long as that of a 747, which boggles my mind. For flight, they fold out and extend, then you shove it into these holder thingies inside the wing. Do you like my technie flight talk? My old flight instructors would cringe…

Familiar with airplanes? Then you’ll notice… no prop! So odd. There’s a lever inside that opens the nose and releases the prop when the motor’s running. When you shut the engines off at altitude, the prop folds back in for minimum drag, which lets you glide farther. This Stemme is actually a motorglider rather than a traditional glider — having an engine eliminates the inconvenience of needing a “tow” up in the air.

I really, really love how the glass top folds forward.

Here’s the lever, in case you’re interested.

And once everything’s off… complete silence. It’s so cool! But also kind of spooky. What I loved most about it is that it kind of removes any fear you might have of an engine failure. Even though the glide ratios are far more exaggerated than a standard airplane, the Stemme still requires finesse in handling to keep you afloat. Or abroad. Well, flying. You know what I mean!

I told him to smile.

There’s our little town! Looks big from the air. Hard to believe.

Notice the curvature in the wing tip? The wings are super light (I want to say carbon fiber?) and self-adjust in the exact same way that bird wings can flex during flight.